Vehicle Maintenance or Trade

You need new rubber for the vehicle, or perhaps the battery is tired.

Or just maybe you can convince yourself that a new car is in order.

Buick makes the point that it is third in sales yielding first and second places to "smaller cars."

 If you think the budget cannot handle a new car, perhaps a nice four-to-five year old Ford or Chevy at $395 to $595.  Plenty available.

What are they asking for a four-year old Malibu these days?

Cycles

One year ago today *click*

Pretty much the same this year.

Ten word Wednesday: Our times

Her children visit Mother.  They are all really into it!

Coloring, tra la

BBBH has been bitten by the "adult coloring book" craze.  So she colors.  Often.  She:  "Aw, c'mon; color with me."  So I did.  Merry Christmas.

I used pencils for this one, but it got me thinking about my experiences at coloring during my very young days.  I always leaned toward the gently applied color, so my little box of eight Crayolas tended to last me a long time.  Meanwhile my little friends, some with the "64"  would press and slash leaving great smears of color on their pages and broken crayons littering the linoleum.  These bits wound up in cigar boxes, or the little monster whined until mama or daddy got them a new box. (I made that part up:  I really don't remember this happening.)

If you missed it or want to review one of my coloring book experiences as a child you may click here.

Let Me Entertain You, 1956

Look at some of the names set to entertain you on the big screen.
Gary Cooper, Susan Hayward, Richard Widmark,
William Holden, Brian Donlevy, Audie Murphy,
George Raft, Gene Tierney, Ginger Rogers.

Need daytime tv entertainment?  How about "My Little Margie," or "Our Miss Brooks," "Captain Kangaroo," "Arthur Godfrey"?

Mary Magdalene #T

Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.  --Jesus Christ (Matthew 5:11)

Mary of Magdala gets a bad rap in modern culture.  Many, even those raised in the church, have long supposed that this Mary was of unsavory character, probably a prostitute.  There is nothing  whatsoever mentioned in the New Testament to support this conjecture.

Let me say up front that even were her character depraved God's grace would have flowed to her anyway.  For example, note the woman taken in the act of adultery (John 8).  This woman is not identified and perhaps some confuse her with Mary Magdalene.  Jesus did not condemn her but in an act of grace adjured her to go and sin no more.  That grace is available to all.

When Mary of Magdala met Jesus she was possessed of seven demons which Christ cast out, healing her of her turmoil.  Matthew 27 tells us that Mary followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him.  Luke 8 says that certain women healed of evil spirits and Mary of Magdala who had seven demons were Christ-followers, that is they were disciples.  Named here with this Mary are Joanna and Susanna who, we are told, "ministered to Jesus with their substance."  Thus it is reasonable to conclude that Mary was reasonably well-to-do and had no family obligations to tie her down, as we might assume for the other women referred to here as well.

Mary of Magdala was one of the three Marys who stood before the cross. (John 18:25)  She followed Jesus's body to the sepulchre so that she would know where he was laid.  She later returned to treat the body with spices to find instead the empty tomb, and there she met Jesus who was risen from the dead.  He commissioned her to go "tell the others" making her the first herald of His resurrection.  The eleven, as we presently see, were at best reluctant to believe and indeed were doubtful and skeptical.

We do not know the occupation of Mary before she became a disciple, nor  what the source of her income was.  We do know she was a tortured soul who was freed from her bondage by Jesus Christ, as we all can be freed from whatsoever tortures our souls.

I think the "harlot" speculation is unfounded.  What we know for certain is that Mary Magdalene was a faithful follower of Jesus Christ.

Scripture references to Mary Magdalene:  Matthew 27:56, 61; 28:1; Mark 15:40, 47; 16:1-19; Luke 8:2; 24:10; John 19:25; 20:1-18.

Dressing Up in the '50s

As we continue riffling through the old newspaper we find some clues regarding the costs of proper attire for the lady and her gentleman.

Dad always wore a fedora.  Sometime in the nineties, I think, he was shopping for a new hat.  He was appalled at the notion of paying eighty dollars for a new Dobbs hat.  This may help us understand why he felt as he did.

Ten Word Wednesday, It's in the paper.

What does it cost to fill your grocery cart today?